Top seed Serena Williams mauled home favourite Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 6-2 to reach the French Open semi-finals.

The brutality of the defending champion's tennis stunned the world number five and silenced the expectant Roland Garros crowd.

"I am on a mission," said Williams, winner of the last four Grand Slam titles.

"She gave 100 per cent but it is hard to play your best game when I am playing well."

The slight Justine Henin-Hardenne is next to step into the firing line after she beat American Chanda Rubin 6-3, 6-2. It will not be a prospect the Belgian will relish if she watches a recording of Williams's performance.

Second seed Kim Clijsters and Russian surprise package Nadia Petrova will meet in the other semi-final on Thursday.

Serena was awesome. She leapt into a 4-0 lead on a damp and overcast centre court as Mauresmo wondered what had hit her.

Broad-shouldered and standing 1.75 metres tall, the French player is one of only a handful who can stand up to the formidable Williams sisters, matching them for strength.

On Tuesday, however, Serena was irresistible. She motored through the set in 22 minutes, Mauresmo and her compatriots blinking as the winners flew past.

FLAGGING CONFIDENCE

While the top seed drove her shots with immense power, Mauresmo seemed to shrink, her first victory over Serena in Rome this month seeming nothing more than a bizarre aberration.

Shoulders drooping, Mauresmo swiftly fell 4-0 behind in the second set on a day of promise which had quickly turned sour.

She managed token resistance towards the end of the ordeal -- winning two more games -- but left her home grand slam once again unfulfilled.

While not in the same league as Serena in the power stakes, Clijsters strode confidently through with a 6-2 6-1 thumping of Spain's Conchita Martinez.

Belgium's Clijsters -- a losing finalist here in 2001 -- took one step nearer her maiden grand slam crown by dominating the former Wimbledon champion throughout the 69-minute match.

"I played a good match. I first needed to get used to the kind of game she plays. I was trying to find my position. But once I was under control, I played pretty well," she said.

The Belgian's demeanour on court was in contrast to that of unseeded Petrova, who nervously outlasted compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to become the first Russian semi-finalist in the women's tournament for almost 30 years.

Petrova's more attacking approach eventually paid off against her 18-year-old opponent, who caused the shock of the women's singles by beating third seed Venus Williams in the fourth round.

The two had met 10 years ago as children, a match Zvonareva remembered as her most memorable experience, having lost 6-0, 6-0. Petrova is the first Russian woman to reach the last four at Roland Garros since Olga Morozova did so in 1975.

The last Russian woman to reach a grand slam semi-final was Elena Dementieva at the 2000 U.S. Open.